Abbey - hardship claim

[100mel]

I've been battling with Abbey for refund of charges under hardship for 12 months - illness, low income etc. They fobbed me off continually using stay etc so that I then referred it to FOS who then placed it back with Abbey for response. Can I just ask for the experience of others with Abbey under hardship - has anyone taken them to court on this?

 

They have now cut my overdraft whilst not acknowledging that without the charges I would not have needed it!

 

Mel

[yourbank]

I've been battling with Abbey for refund of charges under hardship for 12 months - illness, low income etc. They fobbed me off continually using stay etc so that I then referred it to FOS who then placed it back with Abbey for response. Can I just ask for the experience of others with Abbey under hardship - has anyone taken them to court on this?

 

They have now cut my overdraft whilst not acknowledging that without the charges I would not have needed it!

 

Mel

 

Mel, I am sure I have covered this before but I literally post hundreds of time with regards to financial hardship.

 

Do you still bank with Abbey?

Is your account still maintained with Abbey still getting bank charges?

Do you have priority debt arrears(mortgage/rent, council tax, utilities)?

 

No one will get anything under FH in county court(apart from Fee remission, of course )

[100mel]

Yes - I still have my current account with Abbey - they cut my overdraft then charged when I went over new limit

 

No arrears of priority items

 

I am currently awaiting their final response before taking it back to FOS

 

Mel

[yourbank]

Mel, you aren't a financial hardship case so expect a No from the FOS and Abbey.

Having certain aspects of the hardship criteria does not mean you are in hardship. Without priority debt arrears then realistically you will find it difficult to argue your case.

No bank have to refund even 1p under the waiver.

To clarify the financial hardship elements:

 

"2.

In making an assessment of financial difficulty the firm will take into account:

a.

evidence of changes in lifestyle, including loss of employment; disability; serious illness; imprisonment; relationship breakdown; death of a partner; starting a lower paid job; parental/carer leave; and starting full-time education;

b.

evidence of the following events:

i.

items repeatedly being returned unpaid due to lack of available funds;

ii.

failing to make loan repayments or other commitments;

iii.

discontinuation of regular credits;

iv.

notification of some form of insolvency or court proceedings;

v.

regular requests for increased borrowing or repeated rescheduling of debts;

vi.

making frequent cash withdrawals on a credit card at a non-promotional rate of interest; and

vii.

repeatedly exceeding a credit card or overdraft limit without agreement (and, in this regard, where a complainant has incurred over £500 in unauthorised overdraft charges in the previous 12 months, that is to be treated as indicative of financial difficulty)."

 

So its 2(a) plus 2(b) and realistically priority debt arrears that is needed for FH. If you go to the FOS you will have to argue that their reasoning for saying no is wrong based on the final response.

[scared001]

i sent abbey my hardship letter on june 23rd. apparently they have 40 days to respond, what happens after this if i still havent heard from them? i believe i have a good cause as was made redundant in january, fell into arrears with everyone incl mortgage then took on a temping job whereby my wage is now even lower than before....any advice please people? thanking you as always for this wonderful site.

[yourbank]

i sent abbey my hardship letter on june 23rd. apparently they have 40 days to respond, what happens after this if i still havent heard from them? i believe i have a good cause as was made redundant in january, fell into arrears with everyone incl mortgage then took on a temping job whereby my wage is now even lower than before....any advice please people? thanking you as always for this wonderful site.

 

0800 731 7774

Give them a call and enquire as to the progress of your claim.

[100mel]

My hardship claim against Abbey is currently with the FOS. Abbey have not responded to anything beyond now sending me threatening letters from debt collections department concerning bringing my account into order down to reduced o/d limit. Charges claim amounts to £800 and have been for months .Wondered if anyone had a particular delightful response to these people who seem to ignore every piece of correspondence sent to them

 

I am not using the account, having opened one of the basic accounts recommended here but it surprises me that they choose to ignore the FOS completely

 

I'm sure others might be having similar experiences with Abbey maybe?

 

Mel

[sutton6344]

i filed a FH with Abbey as I would qualify on the above grounds.

 

They refused because the account was closed for over 12 months, they claimed the charges didn't contribute to the FH.